TEHRAN - Iran on Thursday allowed female football fans into a stadium for a national team match for the first time in more than a year. Hundreds of Iranian women cheered on the home side during the friendly against the Russian national team at the Azadi Stadium in the capital Tehran.
“I came from the (northeastern) city of neyshabur for the love of Team Melli,” said Fatemeh, a 29-year-old university student, referring to the national squad. “I’ve been on the road for 12 hours,” she added. “I’m very happy that we, women, can participate and see our national team up close and cheer for it.” Two months earlier, women were able to attend an international match for the first time in almost three years, during a World Cup qualifier against Iraq. One-fifth of the 10,000 tickets were exclusively for women during that match, ISnA news agency reported at the time